Andrea M. Maestas is a partner in the New York and San Diego offices of Lewis Brisbois and a member of the Medical Malpractice and Healthcare Practices. Andrea has over a decade of experience defending physicians, hospitals, behavioral health facilities, and medical groups in malpractice and related claims throughout California and New York. She typically handles complex and catastrophic cases, including adult and pediatric neurological deficits, severe orthopedic injuries, paraplegia, and death. In addition to medical malpractice, Andrea represents long-term care facilities against elder abuse, negligence, and premises liability claims; and hospitals in employment discrimination and harassment disputes.

Prior to joining Lewis Brisbois, Andrea was an attorney at prominent defense firms in New York and California. She represented healthcare institutions in malpractice actions as well as hearings under the New York Family Healthcare Decisions Act, mental hygiene matters, and nursing home discharge appeal hearings. She has prepared and argued several substantive motions including in limine motions for trial, post-trial motions, summary judgment, and pre-answer dismissal motions. She has Second Chair trial experience and extensive experience in settlement negotiations, mediations, and arbitrations. She also mentors associates through all phases of pre-trial workup of medical malpractice and general liability matters.

During law school, she served as a Judicial Intern for the Honorable Steven R. Denton (Ret.) with the San Diego Superior Court. She also served as Chief Articles Editor of the TJSL Law Review, and competed in national moot court competitions with the TJSL Moot Court Honor Society. Prior to law school, Andrea worked in the health care field in Arizona and Nevada where she developed a love of medicine and saw how important it was for health care providers to have quality counsel they could depend on. 

Andrea takes great pride in developing cordial relationships with adversaries because it often yields significant advantages for clients with reduced litigation costs. She also keeps herself informed of the changes in regulations impacting healthcare and workplace liability from coast to coast. In her leisure time, she enjoys traveling, sailing the San Diego Bay, and spending time outdoors with her husband and two young boys.

Additional Information

Admissions

• State Bar Admissions
  • California
  • New Jersey
  • New York
• United States District Courts
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Admissions

Arizona

California

New York

New Jersey

United States District Court for the Central District of California

United States District Court for the Southern District of California United States District Court for the Southern District of California

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Associations

• Association for Healthcare Risk Management of New York, Inc. (AHRMNY)
• New York State Bar Association
• The Louis M. Welsh American Inn of Court, Member
• San Diego County Bar Association, Law and Medicine Section
• San Diego Defense Lawyers Association
• San Diego Association of Healthcare Risk Managers
• Association of Business Trial Lawyers

Awards & Honors

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America® 2022 — Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
• “Ones to Watch,” Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants, Best Lawyers, 2021-2022, 2024
• CALI Award in Excellence – Health Care Liability
• Chief Articles Editor and Lead Articles Editor, TJSL Law Review
  • Note, Balance Billing: The Ban on Unfair Billing Practices Increases Tension Between Cost Control and Quality Care, 31 T. Jefferson L. Rev. 393 (2009)
• Vice Chair of Executive Board, TJSL Moot Court Honors Society
  • The California Academy of Appellate Lawyers Award for Best Brief, First Place
  • Excellence in Appellate Advocacy: Bernard E. Witkin Award, Second Place
  • Individual Achievement in Oral Argument
  • Quarterfinalist, Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Competition

Education

Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Juris Doctor, cum laude, 2010

University of Arizona

Bachelor of Arts in Classics, 2005

Representative Matters

• Secured dismissal of a hospitalist on summary judgment in a San Diego Superior Court wrongful death case where plaintiff alleged failure to timely diagnose pulmonary embolism.
• Defended a hospital and a cardio-thoracic surgeon in a medical negligence case where plaintiff alleged failure to properly perform repair of ascending aortic dissection resulting in paralysis.
• Conducted key depositions and argued dispositive motion in defense of a hospital and treating neurologists in a medical negligence case where plaintiff alleged failure to timely treat an acute stroke resulting in lower extremity paralysis and dysphasia.
• Provided trial support to secure a defense verdict with costs awarded in a three-week trial in San Diego Superior Court in a slip-and-fall case where plaintiff alleged traumatic brain injury and orthopedic injuries after fall down flight of stairs.
• Assisted to secure a defense verdict for a large hospital system in a trip-and-fall case where plaintiff alleged orthopedic injuries sustained after a fall on an uneven sidewalk.